


Stand up, Stand your ground

by Elenothar



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Cuddling, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Leia kicks ass, M/M, Nightmares, Poe teaches a class, Self-Defense, hints of Rey/Finn/Poe, life on the resistance base
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-22 09:48:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6074650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenothar/pseuds/Elenothar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When word gets around that Poe Dameron is teaching a self-defense class, half the base turns up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stand up, Stand your ground

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so, this is basically a 10k fic of Poe talking a lot and the result of a plot bunny that just _would not let go_. Originally based on [this](http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/2821.html?thread=4498693#cmt4498693) prompt, I didn't end up making it gen because Finn happened, but self-defense is still very much the focus.
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE THE FIRST: due to the subject matter, there is some discussion of sexual assault (in the sense of 'how to get out of a situation like that'), and mentions of such things happening earlier in some of the characters' lives, but there's nothing graphic. If discussion of such matters is triggering/upsetting for you, give this story a pass.
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE THE SECOND: the self-defense techniques described in this are cobbled together from what I remember from my days doing karate and the jujitsu components we were taught, and helpful youtube videos (I particularly recommend [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D8r-wH0dkk) and [this channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQdkrAb9oms744ypfJLNS0w)). Be aware that a) such techniques really need to be seen and practiced, and my attempts to put them into words are probably sorely lacking, and b) what's described here is only a drop in the vast bucket of self-defense options/styles/techniques etc. There is a LOT more, and this fic was never intended to touch on more than a few aspects. Anyway, keep in mind that I'm not an expert.

 

*

It starts with Jess. They’ve been squad mates for years, friends for almost as long, and have lived through a lot of each other’s damage on the way. They’ve both spent more time alone and unattached than not, and it had been Jess’ idea to install a sub-protocol on their comlinks – if one of them needs comfort, needs the reassurance of a friend being there for them, a specific pattern of beeps functions as a disguised call for help. Over the years Poe has probably used the function more than Jess has; he’s a tactile person, can’t help it, and sometimes when they’re on the ground for too long he gets lost in his head. If she’s on planet, Jess always comes.

When it’s Jess who calls him, he knows it’s serious and drops everything to hasten to her room.

Poe is a light sleeper – almost all of the pilots, who have to wake up at a moment’s notice more often than not, are – and he’s glad of the fact when his comlink starts chirping in the middle of the night a few weeks after Starkiller. He manages to silence the device before Finn wakes up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He pulls on a shirt but doesn’t bother with switching into less sleep-mussed attire beyond that, and lets his legs take over for the well-worn way to Jess’ room a few doors over.

Poe lets himself in with the spare key-card she’d given him a few days after moving in for exactly these kinds of situations, and finds her curled up on her bed, pale and shaking.

“I’m here,” he says, not loudly, but not so quiet as to risk her missing the announcement. No surprises. He sits down at the foot of the bed, waits. They’ve long ago worked out a system for times like these, and he knows not to touch her without her permission, knows to be patient even when every fibre in his body screams at him to offer comfort.

For a moment they simply breathe together, Poe keeping himself quiet and steady, and then Jess uncurls enough to make room for him next to her. He slides into the spot and she buries her face in his shoulder.  Wetness is seeping into his shirt, but Poe only curls an arm around her, warm and safe.

“Do you remember Pamorjal?” she finally murmurs, voice scratchy and hoarse.

Poe nods against her hair. He doesn’t think he could ever forget that gods-forsaken planet.

“I still get nightmares about it. It’s been _four years_.” Her eyes are very bright in the darkness. “They didn’t even really do anything to me, but I still wake up terrified out of my mind every other week.”

Poe also still has nightmares about their week in the planet’s government’s cells. He’d been desperate then, alone and helpless, unable to fight back and desperate to protect Jess with everything he had.

He’d always been a good-looking boy.

Poe had never told Jess about this part. The guilt would eat her alive, even though it was his choice to make.

She continues to speak, quiet and wistful, before he can backslide further into memories he’s tried long to forget and he’s grateful.

“I wish…” She sighs and her hand clenches on Poe’s thigh. “I wish there’d been something I could’ve done you know? To feel safer now. But out of the sky…”

She shakes her head, silent once more, and Poe –

Poe thinks _what if?_

-

He knocks on the General’s open office door more out of politeness than need, almost smiling when her strong voice calls, “Come in! You better not be another person who wants me to sign off on a budget, I swear to – ”

She catches sight of Poe hovering in the doorway and breaks off her tirade. “Thank the stars, Poe. I’ve had just about enough of everyone fussing at me for a day.”

He glances at her wall chrono, bemused. “It’s not even mid-day, General.”

“I _know_ ,” the General sighs. “No one ever told me being a leader of troops would mean this much paperwork. Well, they did, but I didn’t listen to them.”

Her penetrating gaze sweeps over his face. She can probably tell that he’s tense, that he didn’t end up catching much sleep last night. “So, what can I do for you, Poe?”

Aware of the General’s unflattering opinion of people who beat around the bush, Poe cuts straight to it. “I want to start a self-defence course, General.”

Her eyebrows flick upwards, but he knows her well enough to see the warm approval waiting in the wings. “Any particular reason?”

“Does there need to be more of a reason than that it is necessary more often than any of us would like?” he says, and there’s no way she doesn’t catch the angry weight behind his words.

She looks at him, smiles the sad smile of someone who understands exactly what he means. He didn’t say anything she wasn’t expecting to hear. “What do you need?”

He draws a deep breath, relieved despite having gone into the meeting fully expecting for her to acquiesce. “Not much. Official approval is good, and if I could book the padded area of the training salle maybe twice a week?”

“Done,” she says promptly. Her eyes soften. “It’s a good idea, Poe. If everyone hadn’t been so distracted with everything else, we would’ve done this years ago.”

He shrugs. “We’re fighting a war, General. Other issues tend to become… secondary.”

“Well, this isn’t one that should have,” she mutters.

Thinking of Jess’ bleak gaze, Poe can only agree.

-

The word spreads through the base faster than seems physically possible like all rumours do. By the next day Poe has had twelve people stop him asking when the first session would be and he’s seriously considering putting a cap on attendance – but that would defeat the purpose, so he only puts up notices with the times on the relevant notice boards.

That night, getting ready for bed, Finn looks at him curiously.

“Self-defence classes?”

“Yep,” Poe says, pulling on the comfortable pair of pants he usually sleeps in.

Finn hesitates. “This is a military base, right? Shouldn’t everyone already know this kind of stuff?”

“You’d be surprised,” Poe sighs. “All the ground troops who’ve taken the hand-to-hand combat classes do, yeah, but we do have staff, like analysts, who don’t need to learn to fight, and frankly we don’t have the capacity to train them all in the first place.”

“And then there’re the pilots,” Finn says slowly, eyes shrewd.

Poe sits on his bed, spine bent. “We _are_ supposed to get at least minimal training, but it’s… not a priority. Recently we haven’t had the time far too often. And it’s not a requirement.”

Finn nods, as if this is understandable. _Forgivable_.

There’s a short pause, then Finn says, voice suspiciously even, “You do realise that, like, a third of the people will only show up because it’s you teaching that class?”

Poe only barely restrains himself from throwing a pillow at Finn’s smug face. “It doesn’t matter. If they come along, they learn. Their motivation is irrelevant.”

Finn grins. “If you say so, Poe.”

Now Poe _does_ throw his pillow, prompting Finn to laughter, and he finds himself smiling at the sound.

Later, in the darkness, Finn’s voice sounds especially quiet. “Can I come and watch?”

“Of course, buddy.”

-

Poe strides into the training hall for the first scheduled lesson and almost stops in his tracks. There are a _lot_ of people in the room. Some look shy, even worried, others are talking amongst themselves excitedly. And all of them turn to look at Poe when he steps through the door.

Right. He can work with this.

He spots Jess in the first row, looking tired but resolute. When he catches her gaze she rolls her eyes, shaking her head minutely as if to say _of course you’d go and do this_ , and that’s just Jess all over. He grins at her. Most of his pilots are in attendance, probably partly out of loyalty for him, but he’ll take it. He recognises most of the faces in the crowd, actually, which is to be expected. The base isn’t that big after all, and Poe has tried to make it a point to know as many people’s names as possible. It’s nowhere near surprising that most of the people in the room also identify as their species-equivalent of female. Finn is leaning against the wall at the back next to the General. They look to be deep in conversation, and Poe refuses to let her presence intimidate him.

Snap and Karé are waiting for him at the front. Karé was an obvious choice to help out, having received the same kind of training in the New Republic Navy as Poe had. He knows for a depressing fact that the deserters from the Republican fleet tend to be far better trained than the other Resistance fighters. He isn’t sure if Karé has kept it up like he had, but he would be surprised if she didn’t. Snap he asked to help out because, while he is one of the gentlest, sweetest men Poe knows, Poe needs someone bigger and stronger than himself for some of the demonstrations.

He nods at them, clapping Snap on the shoulder.

“Thanks for coming, guys. I really do appreciate it.”

“You did promise me free drinks for a week,” Karé points out, but underneath the teasing she’s deadly serious. Poe remembers well how many times she punched someone in the face because they were getting a little too familiar in their academy days.

“And you shall get them,” Poe promises anyway.

He turns to the assembled motley mix of humans and aliens.

“All right, guys, let’s get started,” he calls, voice raised to be heard over the little bushfires of conversation flaring all around the room. It’s always good to get everyone’s attention from the get-go, so once everyone has quietened down, he directs, “Raise your hand if you identify as female or other species equivalent.”

Almost all the hands go up.

Poe nods, expectation, observation, and reality lined up. “Now, in an ideal galaxy this wouldn’t be relevant, but the truth is that while there are some systems in which, say, some sexualities are seen as deviant, there are many more systems in which females are still seen as the weaker sex, as ridiculous as that is. _We_ all know that females are made of pain, but some people have yet failed to pay attention to that memo.”

He lets his gaze roam through the ranks of people, pleased to see that they all seem to be listening. “That is not to say that this doesn’t happen to males or other genders, but statistically, you’re in more danger as a female. I will attempt to tailor these sessions accordingly, but please don’t hesitate to speak up if you’ve got questions or suggestions.”

He flashes his most charming smile. “I promise I don’t bite, and we’ll all profit if you speak up.”

A titter of laughter goes through the assembled motley crew and Poe claps his hands.

“All right, let’s get started! The single most important advice I will give you in this course has nothing to do with fighting skills,” Poe starts, pacing the front of the room. He’s an active talker, always has been, and his hands swipe through the air as he speaks. “Rule number one is: if you can, _run away_.”

He smiles, lopsided. “I know that doesn’t sound very heroic, but it’s the truth. Any fight you can avoid having in the first place is a fight you win. If you can get away from a bad situation, whether it’s by running, flying, speeder, _anything_ , it doesn’t really matter, you do it. Take the exit and be safe.”

Heads are nodding all around the room. The Resistance has never had room for senseless heroics.

“I will continue saying this until you’re all sick of it, by the way,” Poe says, grinning. “Ask me to tell you about the time I ran away from a group of angry Trandoshans some time.”

“What happened that time you ran away from a group of angry Trandoshans, sir?” someone asks loudly. He’s pretty sure it’s Lieutenant Connix.

Poe raises a brow. “Buy me a drink first, Kaydel.”

More laughter. Poe motions for silence.

“Rule number two,” he continues, “is to scream for help. This one comes with a caveat – there will be places that doing that will get you into even more trouble. If you’re on some scumball planet like, say, Nar Shadaa, screaming for help will just attract more unsavoury types, so only do it if you feel secure in your environment.” Poe lets his gaze sweep over the assembled people. “I know that doesn’t sound very helpful, but this is one of those things that will depend very much on the situation and you will need to exercise your own judgment if it comes to that.”

“Rule number three is to try and talk your attacker down. Most of the time this won’t work,” Poe says frankly, “but it’s worth a try if they look at all receptive. Of course you’ve got to hope they speak your language, though body language can also be employed. I’ll go into more detail about this at a later point.”

He really hopes these three points especially stick. Even if they don’t learn anything else in this course, if they remember this they’ll have retained something valuable.

“But enough of the theory for now, there’ll be more of that later on.” Poe takes a couple of steps back and shucks off his shoes. He points at Snap and Karé. “Captain Wexley and Captain Kun here have graciously volunteered to help me out with the practical demonstrations today. Don’t worry, I’ll leave them in one piece.”

“I appreciate that,” Snap drawls dryly. Karé only snorts.

Poe winks at them. “Today, we will cover the basics of how to escape from holds. Snap, Karé, and I will demonstrate at the front, and then you’ll split up to practice the move I showed you. Make sure you don’t harm your partner while doing this – especially in the first few sessions we’ll take it slowly. and we’ll help you out with that. It’ll feel strange at first, but I promise you, this is the kind of thing where you really have to do it yourself for it to be useful. You’ll definitely be sick of hearing the word ‘practice’ before this course is over.”

“Clearly you’ve never trained under Doctor Kalonia,” someone mutters darkly, which is a fair point. That woman is made from harder stuff than the entire Resistance’s leadership minus the General put together.

“Then at least you’ll be well equipped for this,” Poe points out, to a general murmur of amusement. “Today we’ll look at easy ways to counter common ways of attack. If you want more in-depth training, I would recommend you try and get a place in the basic hand-to-hand combat course that Major Ematt teaches.”

Poe waves Snap over. “First up, how to get away from someone grabbing your wrist. Maybe they’re trying to drag you somewhere, maybe they’re just looming threateningly, but what you want to do is stand firm and jerk your arm through the weak part of their grip.” Poe demonstrates the move, escaping Snap’s grasp easily. “In a species with opposable thumbs that means where their thumb meets the other fingers wrapped around your wrist. If you pull that way with as much force as you can muster by bending your elbow and yanking your hand up slightly to the outside of their elbow, they’ll have to let go. It works exactly the same way if they grab both your wrists. If they grab your wrist with both their hands, it’s a bit harder to get out of – the principle remains the same, but this time you first make a fist with the trapped hand, then grab your fist with your free hand over their arm and _then_ pull.”

Poe and Snap demonstrate the entire set, then Poe directs his audience to try it for themselves while he, Snap, and Karé move through the rows, answering questions and correcting techniques where needed.

When he’s satisfied that everyone has grasped the manoeuvre, Poe moves on to headlocks.

“The really important thing with headlocks is that you need to react instantaneously, or your air supply will be cut off for too long for you to defend yourself effectively. That said, there’s a very neat way of getting out of side headlocks. You hook the arm that’s between you and them over the top of their arm where they’re choking you and grab their face. You can also hook under their chin, if you can reach that far. At the same time you use your other hand to wrap around their knee.” Poe demonstrates on Snap, showing the move from different angles. “If you pull on their face and heave their leg off the ground at the same time, they’ll going down like a ton of bricks.”

Snap huffs against Poe’s hand on his face, but goes down obediently.

“Rear headlocks are trickier, especially when you attacker is a lot taller than you are. See how when Karé puts me in a headlock” – he motions and she does just that, pulling just tight enough that he can feel his airway constricting while still being able to draw breath, until he taps her arm and she lets go again – “it looks quite different than when Snap does?”

This time Snap steps up and winds his arm across Poe’s throat. With his added leverage, Poe has to go on tiptoes to alleviate some of the pressure and his back strains alarmingly. He taps Snap’s arm once to make him let up enough so Poe can speak again.

“The strategy is the same for both cases, but it’ll feel different in the execution. The sideways headlock is easier to get out of because you’ve got a free shot at their face. From this position in the rear headlock, what you do is to bend down quickly, which pulls them forward, and at the same time hit them in the groin. They’ll then be off-balance and you can throw them over your shoulder. _Don’t_ let them bend your backwards.”

Poe demonstrates with Snap, then has Karé have a go at it to show an even greater size difference.

After practicing that they move on to bear hugs –

“If someone hugs you from behind, trapping your arms, the first thing you do is stomp on their foot as hard as possible. That should loosen their grip to a degree that you can move just slightly to the side and plant your elbow or hand in their groin, depending how much taller they are. At that point they’ll have let go off you enough for you to get free and run.”

\- then hair-grabbing –

 “Someone grabs your hair with their hand, they give you their arm to play with. Grab it with both your hands, close to their wrist. Take a step back while turning slightly and pulling them with you. While you do that your elbow goes over their arm. That way you exert a lot of pressure on their arm because it’s trapped between your elbow and your ribcage – if they don’t let go it will break their arm.

“This move also works if they’re grabbing or pushing your shoulder. Leverage is your friend, especially if you don’t have the power your opponent does.”

\- then unwanted hands on one’s body –

“If someone puts their hand on your butt, immobilise their hand by slapping your own over it, then grab and lock their little finger with that same hand and turn around while raising that little finger up in front of you – they will follow because that _hurts._ With the other hand you then lock and grab their thumb. When you continue your turn all the way around they’ll be forced to the ground.

“It works similarly with people groping you in other areas. Going for individual fingers causes quite a bit of pain and will get the message across that this is unwanted.”

\- and finally someone grabbing your shirt –

“If someone grabs you by the lapel, it’s usually good enough to kick them somewhere where it hurts. You can also employ the move of striking your hands down into their elbows at the same time if you want to be certain.

With every technique, Poe makes sure to demonstrate every move slowly, then quickly and from two angles so everyone can see what’s happening on either body side, and then has everybody practice what he’s just demonstrated.

Many of the assembled Resistance members seem to already have some idea about what to do and pick up the techniques quickly and without much fuss, but some of the newer people need to be shown a few more times before they get the hang of it. Poe doesn’t mind – that’s the point of this course after all, and he’d rather demonstrate a move ten times and have them know what they’re doing than leave anyone uncertain at the end.

-

Finn finds him after the session.

“You’re really good at this.”

“What? Self-defence?” Poe’s smile holds a touch of grimness. “It seemed prudent to become proficient, yeah.”

Finn shakes his head at him. “I meant _teaching_ , Poe. Though you’re good at the other thing too.”

Poe smiles. “I am a Commander, you know. I need to be good at cramming information into people’s heads.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Finn says, looking frustrated. “They _listen_ to you. Believe me, not every officer can command the kind of respect they give you, even if they try for it. You don’t even have to try.”

Poe shrugs, pleased and embarrassed all at once. “I’ve found that being nice to people generally helps.”

Finn’s smile is soft around the edges. “Yeah, you would.” He’s silent for a moment, then adds quietly but no less heartfelt for it, “I like the Resistance, Poe.”

On impulse Poe reaches out and pulls Finn into a hug. “I’m glad, buddy. We’re all so glad to have you.”

He can feel Finn’s smile against his shoulder.

-

Even more people turn up to the second session. Poe blinks at the fifty-odd faces turned towards him. If this keeps up they’re seriously going to run out of room.

“Do you remember the three key points from last time? For those who’ve newly joined, they were run, scream for help, and try to talk them down. Ask your partner later for details. This is the fourth. _Be aware of your environment_. Now, I’m not saying you need to be constantly vigilant, but especially if you’re out on assignment or are feeling uneasy about a place you’ve found yourself in, keeping an eye and ear on your surroundings can make the difference between losing the fight immediately and successfully defending yourself.”

He gestures at Snap. “Imagine that Wexley here is going to attack me. If I don’t notice anything until he’s right in my face, he’s probably going to get a first hit in, or can grab me. Maybe he’ll even get me on the floor. From then on my options are limited. I may be injured or partly immobilised. _If_ I notice him coming, however,” Poe goes on, nodding at Snap to rush at him, “I can get out of the way, stop him from grabbing me, even get him on the ground.”

While speaking, he twists out of the way of Snap’s attack, then dances out of reach of the other’s follow-up.

“I’m mobile and have all my options open. If you time it exactly right, you can even send your attacker flying by using their momentum against them.”

Poe beckons Snap again, who sighs and advances again – a little slower this time, to allow Poe to drop to one knee and help Snap fly over his shoulder without making the fall too jarring.

“However, even a good awareness of your surroundings will only get you so far. If you’re, say, alone and attacked by a group?” Poe shakes his head. “Your chances are very, very low. Best I can tell you is to get yourself a small holdout blaster that packs a punch. Which is good advice anyway, even if it’s only a single attacker. If you shoot them somewhere painful they’re not going to lay a hand on you. Knives are also a good idea.”

A murmur of agreement runs through the crowd.

“Do you carry one, Commander Dameron?” someone calls from the back.

“Good question,” he says. “The answer is yes. I usually carry two small blasters when I leave the base, one in my boot and one strapped to my wrist. Unfortunately stormtroopers know to look for that kind of thing.”

At the back of the room Finn audibly snorts.

“If you don’t have the credits to buy something for yourself,” Poe continues, “ask someone in the armoury here – they’ll be happy to help you out.”

Heads nod all around the room.

The second half of the session is spent on how to properly roll, land, and fall and various throws to go with the manoeuvres. At the end Poe is tired and sore, but he also witnessed Yadal, a tiny lady as fierce as anyone Poe knows, throw someone three times her size so he counts it as a win.

-

“I’m going to usurp one of your sessions,” the General tells him, far too early the next morning.

Poe blinks blearily at his breakfast porridge. “Hm?”

She smiles down at him in what he likes to think is fondness not exasperation. “One of your self-defence lessons. I’m going to run it.”

“Cool,” he says, once the words have finally penetrated the sleepy fog in his brain. “When?”

“The next one.”

“Okay.”

The General shakes her head at him. “Go wake up, Poe. And eat your damn breakfast.”

Poe is about to protest that he _is_ eating, he’s just savouring the nutty flavour of the porridge, but she has already disappeared into the throng of people heading for food.

“What was all that about?” Finn asks him, sliding into the seat next to Poe with a tray piled high with all sorts of foods, half of which Poe wouldn’t even put on the same plate, much less eat together.

Slightly more alert now that his brain has been reluctantly dragged towards coherence, Poe shrugs. “The General wants to teach the next self-defence class.”

“Oh yeah,” Finn says through a mouthful of purple eggs. “She was muttering something about Hutts last session.”

Poe winces. He’d forgotten about that, which, to be fair, is how the General prefers it. Hutts indeed.

Jess plops down her tray opposite Poe, looking about as awake as he feels. “What was that about the General?”

“She’s going to lead the next self-defence session.”

Jess’ face lights up. “Is she? That’s awesome.”

Poe is pretty certain that General Leia is going to get an even higher turnout that he is. Which makes perfect sense because she’s Leia freaking Organa. Poe would’ve given anything to be taught by her personally in literally any topic when he was younger. (Who is he kidding, he still would.)

Snap, who’s just settled next to Jess, looks somewhat queasy. “I really hope she doesn’t want me to pretend to attack her because that would just be…”

“Weird?” Poe supplies. “Completely and entirely wrong on all possible levels? Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s me who’s going to get beat up by her, Snap.”

Jess grins at him. “Now that I’d pay to see.”

“Just come by our biweekly strategy session some time,” Poe says dryly. “Entry is free and you can see the General decimate at least three people every half hour.”

-

The General stops him on his way back from the hangar a few hours before the next session, her expression serious.

“Are you all right with serving as a demonstration partner in my session, Commander Dameron?” she asks, and Poe wonders if Snap talked to her. “I appreciate that this places you in a strange situation.”

Poe smiles at her to convey his gratefulness that she’s asking, despite it being unnecessary. He’s certainly done worse things in his time with the Resistance. “Just try not to damage my face permanently, General. I need my good looks to get by, you know.”

“I’m pretty sure your charm compensates just fine,” she returns dryly.  She squeezes his shoulder and adds, quieter, “Thank you, Poe.”

“Don’t mention it,” he says, and means it. It’ll be strange to even pretend to attack General Leia, but better him than anyone else really. He’s known her almost his whole life, first as the kind but fiercely stern lady that came by his parents’ house sometimes, then at the academy and now here with the Resistance.

She trusts him not to make it awkward, and he’ll stick to that.

-

The session _is_ really well-attended, and Leia Organa shows once more just why no one should cross her. Ever. She’s as fierce as they come, and Poe is a little bit in love still.

-

A nice routine has been established, and by the next session Poe hardly has to say anything to get people into pairs and listening to him.

“I know we’ve concentrated a lot on humans so far, for obvious reasons,” – he gestures at himself – “but the session today will be all about how to deal with an attacker if they’re a different species. Of course this topic alone could fill a whole year’s worth of courses because of the sheer number of species out there, but I’ll just run through a few of the things to look out for.”

Poe notices a few of the non-humans perk up. He hopes they’ll be satisfied with what he can offer.

“As we’ve seen before, self-defence is all about using your individual strengths to fight back, as well as knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your assailant. This is doubly important if you’re facing an attacker of a different species. For example, reptilian species are harder to injure and have sharp teeth, claws and sometimes tails at their disposal, but they also have issues with endurance. Depending on the species they tend to either be small and fast and not as heavily armoured, or big and slow and pretty invulnerable.  Amphibians have slippery skin that it’s hard to get a hold off and few particularly vulnerable bits, but they’re slowed down on land and their bone-structure makes them heavy and sluggish. Bird-like species are generally fast, have beaks and talons they can use to attack you and can potentially fly. On the other hand their bones are extremely fragile, so if you can get close to them, one hit _will_ break something. Anyone with tentacles you should just stay away from because it’s absolutely impossible to keep track of them all, though they are quite squishy and easily hurt – especially if you’ve got a knife.” He waves vaguely. “Anyway, stay away from tentacles, kids.”

Poe’s pretty sure the choked off laugh is Jess, but in all fairness, it could be any of his pilots. They all have an atrocious sense of humour. (Poe should know – he spends long flights with them blabbering at each other over the comms.)

“And that’s just the _really_ general stuff. Every species will have specifics things you should look out for.” He points at Ruusa, one of their new analysts. “Take Twi’leks, for example. Your advantage is that you will _always_ be underestimated. Always. Anyone who doesn’t is either a decent person and wouldn’t want to attack you or really knows what they’re doing, which means you’re in trouble anyway. Compared to humans you have slighter longer limbs and thus greater reach. No hair or fur to be pulled, but you need to take care to defend your lekku.” He smiles at her, and she manages a shy smile in return. “There are specific techniques that have been developed for that, and if you want to know more you can ask me after the session, or anytime when I’m not busy. I can at least point you towards supplementary reading material.”

Poe raises his voice, making sure to encompass the whole room. “That goes for all of you, actually. Seriously, I’m happy to help out.”

He waits for the murmur of assent, then continues. “Now, if you’re a Mon Cal, things look quite a bit different.” Poe nods at Alack, a distant cousin of Ackbar’s who’d followed his uncle to the Resistance. “You have slick, slippery skin that it’s quite hard to get a grip on, no hair to pull and few particularly squishy bits like us humans. Really, all species who don’t wear most of their reproductive organs outside their bodies have an advantage already. You should also pay attention to relevant small details, like the Mon Cals’ hooked barbs on the inside of their thumbs. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s nasty when grappling, especially if you aren’t expecting it. On the downside, you are also slower on land than most other species because you’re built for underwater life, and your breathing is probably not at optimum capacity.”

Poe runs through a few more of the resident species, then turns to wrap up the session. The single Wookiee in attendance howls.

“I’m not sure I can teach you anything, Garriltaarra,” Poe says dryly. “But I suggest you seek out Commander Chewbacca once he returns. I’m sure he’ll have some tips.”

Garriltaarraa nods her shaggy head, hooting in Wookiee acknowledgment.

-

“We got a transmission from Rey today when you were out on patrol,” Finn tells him at dinner the next day.

Poe, drooping into his stew after a long day of drills and trying to whip new recruits into shape (and that was before he’d been dispatched with Snap to check out an anomaly in their sensor readings at the edge of the system), rubs at his eyes. “I’m sorry I missed her.”

Finn smiles, that wide smile he always gets when talking about Rey. “She says hi. She also says you should sleep more because she can feel your jitteriness all the way from Ahch-To.”

Poe freezes with a spoonful of stew halfway to his mouth. “She’s kidding.”

Finn shrugs. “Who even knows? But she’s definitely got a point.”

Poe scowls half-heartedly, finally stuffing the spoon into his mouth. “How are you two ganging up on me when Rey isn’t even in the same system?”

“It’s a wonderful talent we have,” Finn says solemnly, then grins. “Or maybe your pilots just gave us a few pointers.”

Poe mutters _traitors_ into his bowl. Maybe he should be flying even more drills. Clearly his squad mates have too much free time on their hands.

“I told her about the self-defence classes,” Finn comments, distracting Poe from his thoughts of bloody revenge.

“What’d she say?” he asks, curious. He doesn’t know Rey very well – not yet, though he has hopes that will change – but spending even a few minutes in her company was enough to realise her competence. She can clearly kick his (and he’d bet most other people’s) ass without breaking much of a sweat.

“Once I explained that not everyone can kick ass as well as she can” – Finn rolls his eyes – “she thought it was a great idea. I think she wants to spar with you.”

Poe groans. “Seriously, I’ve got enough bruises already. I don’t need terrifying people to add more for sport.”

Finn, on the other hand, looks worryingly thoughtful. “I reckon it could be interesting. You _are_ pretty good.”

Poe tries to ignore the blush rising in his cheeks and summarily fails. Still, even compliments from Finn don’t mean he’ll stop exercising a healthy sense of self-preservation.

“ _You_ can spar with her, buddy,” he says cheerfully. “I’ll even cheer you on.”

“Not Rey?”

Poe smirks. “She doesn’t _need_ anyone cheering her on because she’ll win anyway.”

Finn considers that for a moment. “Yeah, that’s fair isn’t it?”

“You sure know how to pick ‘em,” Poe agrees, clapping Finn on the shoulder.

Finn scrunches up his nose – adorably so Poe can’t help but notice. “I didn’t really pick her, she just almost knocked me out with that staff of hers.”

“Same thing.”

-

“Today’s session is titled ‘what to do when you’re pinned to the ground’, with a side-helping of ‘more tips on how to _avoid_ getting pinned to the ground’.” He pins his student with a serious gaze. “This session especially may push what some or even all of you are comfortable with, and I can’t stress enough that it’s completely okay and deeply necessary for you to signal if you reach your limit. Yes, learning this would probably help you, but I don’t want anyone pushing themselves too far, all right? If you have trouble and really want to learn we can always go a bit slower.” Poe makes sure to look at every single face. “Everyone got that?”

A murmur of affirmation goes through the crowd and Poe nods, satisfied for the moment. He would have to keep an eye out today, more so than usually even. He already told Karé to find herself a nice spot and pay attention to the students when he’s busy or distracted. Snap would do as his only partner for the session.

“All right, Snap and I will demonstrate a few ways someone might pin you to the ground.” Poe waves his hand through the air. “As always, shout if you have questions.”

He nods at Snap and lies on his back for the first demonstration. The other pilot kneels down between Poe’s bent legs, shuffling forward until Poe’s feet barely touch the floor, forced away by Snap’s sighs. It’s an uncomfortable position, which is of course the whole point.

“If they kneel down between your legs for nefarious reasons,” Poe explains, “this is one of the most common ways it can go. If you don’t stop them, they’ll lean down, immobilising your arms in the process and there’s little you can do at that point.”

Snap demonstrates, bending low over Poe’s torso. The position becomes even more uncomfortable, even though rationally his brain knows that this is a demonstration and he isn’t going to be hurt. There’s a reason he picked Snap for these demonstrations, beyond the physical ones. Poe’s known Snap for years, is familiar with him in ways that nothing more than long shared experience can foster and pressed into the ground by force, he knows that’s the only thing that’s keeping him from an adrenaline-fuelled panic that could end up with either of them seriously hurt.

Something must’ve shown on his face, for Snap asks, worry curling around his voice, “You all right? Signal out if you have to.”

Poe takes a deep breath. “I’m good.” At Snap’s supremely sceptical look he rolls his eyes and adds, “Promise.”

Snap raises himself up again until he’s kneeling fully again, looking down at Poe.

“What you want to do,” Poe says in a louder voice, “is to stop them before they get to that point. The first step is to bring up your hands and get your palms to your attacker’s shoulders.”

Snap leans forward and Poe swiftly raises his arms until they’re pointing almost straight up, palms braced flat on Snap’s shoulders.

“Snap is quite a bit stronger than I am, but in this position I can easily hold his weight up, and he has trouble moving or attacking in any way. It’s important that you don’t tuck your thumbs in under the arms, just lay your hands flat. Don’t try holding them up by the chest because they can just lean to the side and force their torso down anyway if you do that.” They demonstrate. “The other really important thing is that your arms aren’t bent at all, but entirely straight. If they’re bent, they can just force them down.”

They demonstrate that, Poe bending his arms a little at the elbow and Snap leaning forward until Poe’s elbows meet the ground. Then they go back to Poe holding up Snap by his shoulders.

“Now, once you’re in this position, you want to get out from under your attacker,” Poe picks up the thread again and shoos Snap away for the next part. “You can do that by sliding into a sort of L-position by sliding your hip outward. One of your feet stays firmly on the ground, as does the opposite shoulder. The other foot and the other shoulder will leave the ground. Push off with the foot that stays on the ground while sliding your hip towards the side of that foot until your butt’s poking out and your torso almost perpendicular to your legs in that L-shape I mentioned. You’re pretty much lying on your side now.”

He repeats the move a couple of times on his own, then directs everyone to try it out. Once he’s satisfied that people have grasped the concept, he waves Snap back over.

“And this is what it looks like if you actually use that move when pinned down.”

Snap is back to kneeling between his legs and Poe’s holding him up by the shoulders. Then he slides his hip out, raising his left foot until it’s level with Snap’s hip and pauses.

“From here, you put your freed foot on your attacker’s hip like this.” He pushes his bare foot into Snap’s hip gently. “Because your foot is now holding them at bay, you can take your palms away from the shoulders and grasp their elbows instead. At this point you have a firm enough hold on their arms that you can push your way back into the centre and draw in your other foot from where it was keeping you steady so that both your legs are now bent in front of you and your feet on their hips.”

They demonstrate this a couple of times, then Poe keeps talking. “In this position, your attacker can’t really do much anymore. Your legs are stronger than their upper body, so they can’t advance, and you’ve got that arms engaged as well. They’re off-balance. At this point, your usual untrained attacker’s instinct would be to pull away backwards. As they pull away, your hands should slide down to their wrists and you’ll have enough room to start kicking.” Poe’s grin shows a lot of teeth. “Groin, squishy insides, chin, head, it’s all fair game. Go for the vulnerable parts. No matter how big and strong your attacker is, those kinds of kicks _will_ get them on the ground, and you’ll have time to run away.”

Heads are nodding all throughout the room, vicious expressions that give Poe heart. He and Snap run through the complete set-up two more times, one slow one quick, before going to coach their students.

They practise this for most of the session because Poe knows just how useful and necessary these kinds of tricks can be. Then they move onto what to do when you’re on the ground and someone is choking you  from different positions, then go through options of what you can do if you’re lying face-down.

By the end of the session he feels entirely wrung out, and Snap isn’t looking much better. As the students file out, Poe leans against the wall for a moment, consciously relaxing his tense muscles.

He’s just about to leave the room when Kaydel comes up to him, looking faintly nervous.

“Hey, Kaydel,” he says, smiling warmly and relaxing his body language. He hadn’t even realised just how tensely he’d wound himself up throughout the session. “What can I do for you?”

She takes a deep breath, then says all in a rush, “You said you would be happy to teach people some extra stuff outside these sessions and I’m really not sure I got all of that today and my partner went really easy on me could you help make sure I really got it?”

Her young face is tense, an unhappy set to her mouth and there is no universe in which Poe could say no to a request like this.

“Of course, Kaydel,” he says, nodding firmly. “I can understand wanting to make sure you can actually do the moves. What bits did you have trouble with?”

She tells him, and they spend another forty-five minutes alternating between Kaydel pinning him to the ground while he demonstrates how to get out again and Poe pinning her to the ground so she can practice. At the end he’s got rather a few more bruises than he was expecting at the beginning of the session and they’ve missed dinner, but Kaydel is grinning and far surer in her executions, and Poe can’t bring himself to mind.

It’s all worth it.

-

Poe wakes up choking on nothing that night, throat helplessly constricting even as his brain keeps saying _you can breathe there’s nothing wrong your throat is free_. His body doesn’t believe his brain for a second, which is unfortunate because he needs air and he needs to stop feeling Kylo kriffing Ren in his head in his nightmares, needs to stop seeing a black glove reach into his eyes and out the back of his head, taking everything that he is.

It’s Finn’s hand on his shoulder, his low voice washing over him, calm and reassuring and _safe_ that brings him out of it. For a moment he just lies there, taking deep, raspy breaths

“Thanks, buddy,” he says, once his chest feels less like it’s about to cave in.

Finn sighs, letting his head fall on Poe’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I couldn’t wake you sooner.”

Poe sits up, jostling Finn in the process and trying to get the other to look at him.

“Hey, hey, none of that,” he commands. “You’re not responsible for my nightmares. And I know for a fact that they would be worse if you weren’t here, keeping watch over me.”

He holds Finn’s gaze until the other nods and sags against him.

“I just don’t like seeing you in pain,” Finn mumbles, and Poe instinctively scoots over to make more room for him on the bed.

 _Terrified_ , Finn doesn’t say, but Poe hears the word echo hollowly in the air anyway.

“Can’t be helped, buddy,” Poe says, drawing Finn close. He would worry about taking advantage if Finn didn’t go so willingly, melding himself against Poe’s side as if he’s always belonged there. “It’ll get better with time.”

Finn’s eyes glint in the dim light, dark and wide. “Will it?”

“Probably,” Poe says after a moment, but he can hear the lack of conviction in his own voice. “At least that’s what the healers say.”

Finn is silent for a while, digesting that. Poe has shaken him awake from more than one nightmare himself; the question was probably a personal one.

“Is that why you’re teaching everyone self-defence?” Finn asks quietly, and Poe is never not going to love his straightforwardness, the way he asks questions that others would tiptoe around.

“We all have damage, buddy,” he murmurs, hoarse. If he concentrates very hard on Finn’s face, he can pretend he doesn’t also see a dark glove hovering in the background. “I suppose you could say what’s happened to me inspired me to try and help others, but the truth is that none of my training helped at all when faced with Kylo Ren. I couldn’t fight. Couldn’t do anything, really.”

Finn’s arm tightens around Poe’s midsection. “Kylo Ren isn’t the only bad thing that has happened to you though, is it?”

Poe bites back his surprise. How did someone who spent most of his life staring at helmets get so good at reading other people? Maybe it’s a body language thing? (Poe doesn’t really want to think about _that_ too hard because he’s worked for a long time to keep his body’s tells to a minimum, and would really like to hang onto the illusion that all the practice has had some effect.)

And again, Finn seems to pluck the thought right out of Poe’s head.

“Just you, Poe,” he says, and there’s a smile in his voice. “I can’t read other people for shit and you know it.”

Poe cracks a smile at that. “Are you saying I’m special?”

“I’m saying you’re specially good at avoiding the question.”

Poe doesn’t manage to hide his wince this time, and Finn’s expression softens even further. “Not that you have to tell me, Force knows you don’t owe me your life story. But…”

He leans in close, a reassuring line of warmth at Poe’s side. “Wiser people than I keep telling me I should talk about the things that haunt me. I thought maybe you should be given that chance too.”

Poe sighs, leaning his head against Finn’s shoulder. “Sometimes I think you’re too good for this galaxy, Finn.”

“Nah,” Finn says. “You’re in it, aren’t you?”

A burst of laughter startles out of Poe. “Since when are _you_ such a smooth operator then?”

“Since always,” Finn fires right back. “People just haven’t noticed.”

Somehow their hands have intertwined at some point in the past few minutes without Poe noticing. He can’t help the smile that crosses his face at the sensation of Finn’s strong, calloused hand in his.

“It’s not a story for today,” Poe says finally, when Finn’s breaths are already starting to even out. “I will tell you some day, because I’m pretty sure you’re right and this is one of those things I’m supposed to talk more about, at least with the people who are important to me. But it’s still –”

He doesn’t know how to end that sentence, but Finn only smiles against his breastbone. “I understand, Poe. I can wait.”

Poe hums his gratitude, presses a kiss to Finn’s forehead.

“I just don’t want it to define me,” Poe murmurs because he _needs_ this to be clear.

Finn raises himself up on his elbows, eyes fierce. “It could _never_.”

Which is a lie, but at least it’s a nice one.

-

It’s the last planned session and Poe is feeling almost nostalgic. Not that he’ll miss the bruises, but he’s liked helping, being useful and seeing them all get surer in themselves and their abilities as the weeks went by. It’s not the same sort of feeling as when he’s taking out First Order starships in his X-Wing, but a quieter sort of accomplishment that warms just as deeply.

“This is our last session,” Poe announces, and accepts the round of _awwws_ with a graceful bow. “I know, it’s a shame. Unfortunately the First Order hasn’t stopped trying to take over the galaxy so I can do this full-time. Very inconsiderate of them.”

“You burned their tail at Malastare yesterday though, boss,” one of the pilots shouts gleefully.

Poe grins. “ _We_ burned their tail, yeah. And we’ll get right back to that in an hour and a half.”

Understanding that play time is over, everyone quietens down.

“Today,” Poe says, “is about the worst case scenario. Anyone know what that would be?”

“Several someones with blasters aimed at your head?” Kaydel ventures.

Poe nods at her. “Pretty much. Armed attackers are everyone’s self-defence nightmare. If your attacker has a weapon, you’re in deep trouble. So far we’ve concentrated on techniques that assume you’re _not_ being held at blaster-point. Or threatened by any other weapon. You all know just how many objects there are out there that can kill you with extreme prejudice.”

Poe paces the front of the room, gaze serious. “If you can’t get away from the fight and you want to survive, well, surrendering is possibly the safest option.” He holds up a hand at the murmur of protest. “I know, it sounds terrible and I hate even saying it, but it’s true. If they want to rob you or sexually assault you, they will probably leave you alive at the end of it if they get what they want. If you fight, your chances of being at least heavily injured are very high.”

The room is deadly silent.

“The problem with this scenario is that you can’t really defend yourself against someone with a blaster – they can just shoot you. Most _will_ shoot you if you look like you’ll make trouble. Now, there are a couple of rays of hope. If you’re armed too, you stand a chance if you aren’t faced by a group of attackers. Unless you’re a Jedi or maybe a Mistryl you’re not getting out of that one. The _other_ option in which it might be worthwhile to choose to fight is if your attacker only has a melee weapon. And that is the scenario we’re going to focus on today.”

This morning Poe had rummaged around in the training equipment until he’d found a wooden sword and some of those dummy knives made of some sort of rubber that couldn’t hurt a fly even if you tried really, really hard. He shows them how to redirect a knife stab aimed at your torso – it’s all about _timing_ –  and lets Snap attack him with the sword – though that one mostly consists of him jumping out of the way until there’s an opening which allows him to get in close and block Snap’s arm. Poe also shows them a few tricks how to get other people to let go of whatever they’re holding, but he doesn’t sugar-coat the truth: if someone attacks you with a real weapon, it’s very easy to get hurt badly.

Then he refers them to important tip number one, because really, you can never be told enough that sometimes running away is the better part of valour.

-

What feels like at least half the self-defence class corners Poe in the improvised bar after their last session and a grinning Kaydel presents him with a drink that’s coloured a particularly violent shade of purple.

“Storytime,” she demands, settling herself on a barstool next to the one already occupied by Finn.

With expectant faces all around, Poe can hardly refuse and he _did_ promise them the story. He takes a sip of the purple concoction and pulls a face.

“What the hell is _this_?”

“Something that would knock you flat on your bottom if you drank it all at once,” Jess volunteers cheerfully. _She_ is being sensible and sipping Corellian brandy.

Poe puts the drink aside and turns to face his audience. “Right, so you all want to hear the story of how a group of Trandoshans nearly killed me?” he asks, leaning his elbows back against the bar top. “I didn’t promise you it would be very _interesting_.”

“You heavily implied it though,” Finn points out. “So you better deliver, flyboy.”

Poe grins. “All right then. This happened on Corellia, of course, because all the good stories happen on Corellia.”

Jess, a Corellian born and bred, shouts, “Damn right!” to much laughter.

“I was there running an errand for the General. At the time we were still trying to either get the necessary funding for T-85 X-Wings or get our hands on a few through… other means.”

Someone at the bar of the room hoots and Poe grins. “We all know just how inventive the General can get when she’s pushed, and the Senate had been getting on her nerves for _months_ at that point.”

Garriltaarraa makes a sympathetic hooting noise, but Poe had been _in_ the New Republic military and the higher-ups had really had it coming so his own sympathy was… limited.

“Right, so I was sitting in this pretty shady cantina waiting for my contact. It had been strongly implied that he was some kind of smuggler.” Poe snorts. “Or at least that’s what I hear when someone says ‘an old buddy of Han Solo’s’.”

Heads nodded all around, with some solemnity. Solo’s death wasn’t as much of a taboo subject anymore as it had been for the first few weeks after Starkiller, but people still walked lightly around the topic, and many a night of drinking had included a silent toast to the departed hero.

“At the point my contact was an hour late I was starting to have a bad feeling. Punctuality isn’t exactly a staple of smugglerhood, but as long as there’s profit involved they do tend to at least _show up_. I’d just about made up my mind to skedaddle when the door burst open and my contact came half-running in. He spotted me too, came over, we exchanged the usual pleasantries to make sure we were who we claimed to be, but I could tell the guy was nervous. Kept looking at the door.” Poe took another sip of his revolting drink, mostly to build up a bit of tension. “So I asked him if there was a problem, and he just turned this huge smile on me and said ‘not with you, laddie, I’m just expecting a group of angry Trandoshans to shoot at me any moment now’. He never did get around to explaining to me what he’d done to piss them off because they _did_ come bursting through the door about three seconds later and once they’d seen me with him they immediately decided to terminate me with equal prejudice.”

“Did the smuggler grab your hand and drag you out of the cantina?” Finn asks, which makes very little sense to Poe because why would the smuggler do _that_?

He snorts. “No, he just told me to run like hell and left me to fend for myself.”

Finn pulls a dissatisfied face, but really, this is just more proof that Finn is too good for this galaxy. Of course the smuggler abandoned Poe – that’s what strangers do when their life is about to be ended by a marauding gang of Trandoshans.

“Now, I had a blaster, but there were five of them and there was no way in hell I’d make it out that fight,” Poe picks up the thread of the story. There’s no use dwelling on Finn’s pure goodness if he wants to be at all useful in the next half hour. “So I ran. Let me tell you, Corellia has a lot of back-alleys, and Trandoshans aren’t the fastest species out there. Still got myself shot in the arm, but at least I made it out alive. Because I _ran_ ,” Poe repeats pointedly, “in case you’d forgotten about the moral of the story already.”

That got a laugh, and no one looked ready to lynch him so his story had probably passed muster.

“What happened then?” Snap wants to know. “You never told us this story before.”

“That’s because it mostly features me failing to complete my objective and getting my ass kicked in the process,” Poe points out dryly. “We didn’t even get the X-Wings in the end, so the whole thing was just a loss.”

“Good to know that the great Commander Dameron isn’t infallible,” someone in the back jokes.

Poe raises an eyebrow. “You can’t have already forgotten about that time I got my X-Wing blown up on Jakku and then crashed another ship on that dustball only a few hours later.”

“We certainly didn’t forget about you arriving back on D’Qar about to pass out because the First Order had beaten the shit out of you,” Jess says pointedly. She still hasn’t forgiven him for making them think he was dead. “You better not do that again, Dameron.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Snap mutters and is echoed by Iolo and Karé.

“Not planning to,” Poe agrees cheerfully. “Now stop being a downer and tell these kids about that time we flew a mission to Endor and you nearly got mobbed by Ewoks.”

Snap throws him a dirty look, but it’s already too late. When faced with approximately thirty pleading looks, even the most hardened pilot is helpless to resist. Even if it means getting sniggered at by Jess.

Poe leans back against the bar, sliding his hand along until he finds Finn’s fingers.

“You have a lot of good stories, Poe,” Finn says, swivelling on his chair to look at Poe. His fingers are very warm in Poe’s palm.

“And there’ll be many more,” Poe tells him. He grins. “Are you ready to be there for them with me?”

Poe swears Finn’s answering smile could’ve lit its own solar system.


End file.
